How accurate is it to say that persecution of witches
How accurate is it to say that persecution was most intense in areas where influential people were able to promote action against witches? (30)
In the years 1580 to 1650 the witch hunts of Europe took place against a backdrop of rapid social, economic, and religious transformation. Witch hunting was the hostility, accusations and campaigns aimed at a person or a group in the community holding views considered unorthodox or a threat to society and the intensity of these hunts varied in different European countries. The role of prominent individuals such as King James VI in Scotland and Mathew Hopkins in England was a significant cause of the increase in the intensity of witch persecutions and is a major factor in the ‘from above’ argument for causes of the witch craze. However, the most important factor for the intense persecution of witches at this time was the socio-economic situation across Europe in the form of plague, widespread poverty and the growing suspicion of women. Furthermore it was apparent that in the places of more extreme amounts of witch persecutions, there was a weak central government, harsh legal system and therefore radical amounts of witch hunts. Moreover, the high amounts of religious change, as a result of the reformation and counter-reformation, at these times caused conflict and disruption which added to the growing socio-economic stress and fuelled the amount of witch hunts.
It is accurate to say that in the years 1580 to 1650 the role of influential people and the impact that their literature had, was an important cause of intensifying the persecution of witches. The concentration of Scottish witch hunts were attributed to the determination of King James I and his endorsement of the use of torture to increase confessions. The views of the King were clearly conveyed in the circulated book ‘Daemonologie’ which condoned the practice of witch hunting, published in 1597. James’s attitude towards witchcraft is even more so expressed by his
In the years 1580 to 1650 the witch hunts of Europe took place against a backdrop of rapid social, economic, and religious transformation. Witch hunting was the hostility, accusations and campaigns aimed at a person or a group in the community holding views considered unorthodox or a threat to society and the intensity of these hunts varied in different European countries. The role of prominent individuals such as King James VI in Scotland and Mathew Hopkins in England was a significant cause of the increase in the intensity of witch persecutions and is a major factor in the ‘from above’ argument for causes of the witch craze. However, the most important factor for the intense persecution of witches at this time was the socio-economic situation across Europe in the form of plague, widespread poverty and the growing suspicion of women. Furthermore it was apparent that in the places of more extreme amounts of witch persecutions, there was a weak central government, harsh legal system and therefore radical amounts of witch hunts. Moreover, the high amounts of religious change, as a result of the reformation and counter-reformation, at these times caused conflict and disruption which added to the growing socio-economic stress and fuelled the amount of witch hunts.
It is accurate to say that in the years 1580 to 1650 the role of influential people and the impact that their literature had, was an important cause of intensifying the persecution of witches. The concentration of Scottish witch hunts were attributed to the determination of King James I and his endorsement of the use of torture to increase confessions. The views of the King were clearly conveyed in the circulated book ‘Daemonologie’ which condoned the practice of witch hunting, published in 1597. James’s attitude towards witchcraft is even more so expressed by his